It's me, again! (AST checkup)

[Maeka]

So, I took a hiatus, and I just recently started playing again, figured with Shadowbringers on the way I'd make a push to get a few more jobs up to at least 60, and that brings me back to AST.

It took a few dungeons to break off the rust (I think I got most of it by now), and I happened to be streaming some random stuff for a friend, when I did a Sohm Al run that the rest of the group seemed to have liked.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/426827802

So, here's me with a 'Good/Bad/suck?' type thing. For some reason, Twitch's Highlight system cut off the first few minutes of the dungeon, I struggled a bit because of trying to target specific enemies with all of those stupid poison plants in the way, but nothing that big happened.

I think that Tioman fight went pretty well all things considered!

BTW, I moved to Cactuar not that long ago to join with a friend's FC.

[Rongway]

I struggled a bit because of trying to target specific enemies with all of those stupid poison plants in the way, but nothing that big happened.

Bind Cycle Up through Enemy List / Cycle Down through Enemy List to something convenient (I think the default is alt+num8/6, not sure though). This can also be bound to mouse wheel in /characterconfig ->ControlSettings->Mouse. You can use these to target enemies without having to sort through "trap"-type enemies.

Tioman fight

You don't have to top everyone off every time they take damage. You spent lots of GCDs casting Benefic/II on people who were in no danger of even getting hit soon. There are few unavoidable arena-wide AoEs in msot fights, this one included. Natural HP regen will be mostly enough for your DDs; just throw out an Aspected Helios after the unavoidable arena-wide AoE. You also used Benefic/II+Dignity on the tank. Dignity heals for more the lower the target's health is. Using it to top someone off is a waste. Better would be to use Dignity on the tank when low, then reassess healing needs later.

[Lynesse]

Hullo! :d I haven't watched the whole thing, but actually that's only because I have so much to say already from what I did watch (which was a sizable chunk!)

Okay, first. I think you're way too hard on yourself. To take what someone else said recently about tanking and apply it to healing: It isn't an exact science in scenarios like this. It's an art.

Your reaction times are excellent. When I tank, that's what I look for most in a healer.

I do, however, have some genuine advice!

As Rongway pointed out, when you cast Benefic II at the start, it wasn't really necessary. DPSing and then using Essential Dignity when the tank gets truly low would have been better. What "truly low" means is going to depend on your latency, the tank, and the situation. Your tank was good, and for me, it would be under 50%.

But here's the thing: You cast Benefic II because you had just started and were still gauging the situation. It's always okay to play it safe. When you get more experience, you'll have a better understanding of the game's rhythm and you'll start making plays that you think are risky now but are actually not at all.

Where you're at right now, I'm at with tanking. ^^

The general gameplan of pulls like this is to do as much healing with Essential Dignity (and your regen!) as possible, which means letting tanks drop low enough to use it without overhealing. Edit: I should mention that this is the gameplan, but it's not a hard and fast rule (remember, art, not science!) It's better to overheal than underheal in any sort of pug/random content.

You can also Combust on mobs as you're running.

One last thing: You want to get used to Malefic -> Draw -> Malefic -> Spread. That sort of thing. You can use your card skills right after Malefic casts before the GCD is up. This, to me, is tricky and annoying to get perfect in dungeons, so don't think too hard on it. It's just something worth practicing. You don't need to do this while spamming Gravity, as you'll already have used a card buff before the Lightspeed -> Gravity spam.

You're definitely going to achieve a level of excellence most people can only dream of. It's a shame you're on Cactuar. I'd mentor you myself if I could. c:

Edit #24178: Onelastthingforrealthistime. :d Trust your regens! Experiment with letting your Aspected Benefic do most of the healing, and then bring the tank back from "oh god please heal me" territory with Essential Dignity.

[Maeka]

Thanks for the input!

I have somewhat bad experiences with Tioman, and it takes a lot of trust for me to relax during that fight, SO many wipes, so many people failing to dodge stuff, I never take it for granted that they will in fact dodge, especially the star-shaped attacks.

But yeah, I will admit being a little over-cautious. That comes from a couple times I've had to main-heal that fight as a RDM, I suppose, and my first few times going through it as WHM, people dropping dead constantly.

I did notice one thing in my video is I was missing a lot of card draws, I think the extra stuff going on, I've gotten somewhat lazy about pulling cards, and also working out the best ways to handle the ability to hold cards, when I should Royal Road, when I should pass a normal card or hold it and wait for a Royal Road, etc.

Binding the cycle enemies...hmm, might try it with the mousewheel maybe? Hmm, but if I do that, then I might not be able to use the mousewheel in menus... though admittedly very few menus actually make use of the mouse wheel though, right? I didn't think of that. huh. I really need to try that. That's been consistently a huge "thing" with me in the game, especially enemies that are too tall to fit on the screen.

As far as combusting on the run... I have Combust on Shift+4 and that creates a few problems trying to shift+ anything while running though I suppose I could set auto-run for a sec if I plan on doing that maybe? I'll give it a try!

And thanks for the compliment about the response times! I've really been trying to work on hitting the F keys faster when stuff happens, and/or casting a spell so that it lands a second after someone takes damage. I find people seem to love that, a tank buster happens and before they even get time to lookat their HP meter, most of it is already healed back. Though I've found it's dangerous, mistiming means I heal for 0 and that sucks. I've had that happen a few times. I'm getting better at the timing though.

As for me achieving a level of excellence, I've limits to how much I can process at once, sadly. Reactions and stuff are good, but when there's too much going on, my mind just starts melting and I start locking up and fumbling everywhere even on basic stuff. But perhaps that's a barrier I could someday pass?

[Lynesse]

Your mind melts because you're actually doing something that is very, very hard -- optimizing your play in content that is a lot less predictable.

My Combust is on Shift+1. I use an MMO mouse, and I just tab target and toss it out without worrying too much about whether I get everything or not.

The key is to not stress yourself out and overthink it.

I highly, highly recommend watching Baka Games/Tsuki's videos. Watch what he does. Take note of his mistakes -- he'll forget Cleric Stance sometimes, for instance. He'll forget to use Thin Air (watching his WHM is educational too).

Then do better. You can do it.

You're playing exactly how I used to play. I only needed experience and someone to show me that even the best players make mistakes (and enough people have shown me to make me realize I was better than I thought).

[Veis_Alveare]

I think in terms of fundamentals the main two areas you have that could use work are keeping your GCD rolling and not healing over your own HoTs. As an aside I would also say think about a debuff before you Esuna it - you and the dps aren't taking any damage but poison during the initial sets of trash so you're generally safe to let those tick.

For example let's look at the start of the first boss. You apply an Aspected Benefic to the tank (and use the time to move! Good instinct!) but then when he starts taking damage instead of letting your HoT tick you Benefic him. This is a really good way to find yourself OOM because the Aspected spells are quite costly. You do a similar thing but with AoE a bit later on, applying Aspected Helios but then casting another Helios while the Regen is up and no one is in any danger. There is a time for a Helios after an Aspected Helios but it generally is only applied when you need to top the group up for another incoming hit. I think you even Benefic yourself around the same time despite only missing maybe 1k health. It's really MP and GCD inefficient and can leave you without the necessary resources if the need to heal a lot happens to arise.

Speaking of GCD efficiency - this is your other big opportunity. I see you get into your groove on some Malefic spam and it's wonderful but in general you've got a lot of down time specifically surrounding using card actions. These are all oGCD which means if you've just casted Aspected Benefic, Combust or Malefic you've got a window to take a card action or two. It also means it's a free for all during Lightspeed. I know it's a bit harder to find that happy spot on AST compared to some other jobs since most other jobs that have cast times only have one cast time (or instants) on the majority of their spells but AST has long casts for the non-instant heals, a fair number of instant things used frequently and the reduced Malefic cast time. It's just something that will come with time but it's something to be cognizant of.

The last thing is a good rule of thumb for most jobs but can be particularly important on AST and that's keeping your CDs on CD. At 70 (or really just 60+) the best MP management tool you have is extending Lightspeed or Lucid with Celestial Opposition. Syncing these up and keeping them synced is important so using all your buffs more or less as they arise unless you're holding them for a specific mechanic is generally a best practice. This also applies to Essential Dignity! It's a free (and potentially huge) heal every 40 seconds. I think it's the single best single target heal in the game right now, with quick targeting you can cast a Malefic on a boss and hit the tank with ED without even clipping your GCD.

I don't mean to come off overly critical, I know text doesn't convey tone very well, but it's all coming from a good place and I think just by being willing to not only accept but actively seek out feedback means you're on the road to being a much better player than most! Keep up the good work!

[Maeka]

*reads the latest couple responses*

I'm still trying to break out of that "Save emergency-type spells for emergency that probably never come" thing...

Essential Dignity, for some reason, gets seen like Benediction... I keep thinking it's a "I better not use this in case I need it 10 seconds later" type thing. need to break myself of it, true! Took me awhile to break myself of having that mentality towards stuff like Rampart back when I used to tank.

I do admit I need to work on that, and actually use it more often.

And I'm still learning just how much my heals land for, and what I can expect to get out of them. What I forgot to mention, is the run before this one, I had done with a Lv41 weapon equipped and I had to spam Benefic2 the whole time (this was in Dusk Vigil) just to keep people alive because I did not notice I forgot to change my weapon when I arrived in HW dungeons, lol.

So now I have a good weapon and now suddenly my heals are landing for way more and I'm getting used to it, albeit slowly!

But yeah, very valid points, thanks!

EDIT: Also something else to note, my main is a WHM so I'm used to being an endless mana battery. I full well know I need to actually watch my MP as AST, lol. I have nearly run myself out a couple of times.

[Rongway]

I'm still trying to break out of that "Save emergency-type spells for emergency that probably never come" thing...

Essential Dignity, for some reason, gets seen like Benediction... I keep thinking it's a "I better not use this in case I need it 10 seconds later" type thing. need to break myself of it, true! Took me awhile to break myself of having that mentality towards stuff like Rampart back when I used to tank.

I do admit I need to work on that, and actually use it more often.

Last I read, Dignity maxes out at 1000 potency when the target is at 1HP, and is about 700 potency when the target is at 50% HP, so if you use it when the target is at half, it's essentially a frinstant Benefic II. The beautiful thing about Dignity is that its cooldown is so short you can use it 4~5 times before Benediction would cool down. If you use it frequently, that frees up 1.5 GCDs per minute that you could spend on DPS or AoE heals. It also frees up about 1000 MP per minute, which should help since you mention MP worries on AST.

Speaking of MP worries, more frequent use of Lightspeed and Synastry will help relieve some stress there. Lightspeed reduces the cost of 4~5 spells by half, and if it happens to fall within your Celestial Opposition (later, lv60 action) it lasts for 9~10 spells. Synastry will also save you MP on heals, as its piggyback heal effect can be used like a stronger version of Largesse if the tank is taking lots of damage, or to spread the healing around without having to take extra actions or spend MP on AoE heals.

[Maeka]

Ahh, cool, I'll have to keep that in mind! Thanks!

[Veis_Alveare]

Synastry will also save you MP on heals, as its piggyback heal effect can be used like a stronger version of Largesse if the tank is taking lots of damage, or to spread the healing around without having to take extra actions or spend MP on AoE heals.

I'm fairly certain they nerfed the healing recieved bonus on Synastry so that if you cast a direct heal on the person you've targeted with it they don't recieve any bonus heal beyond the initial hit.

Also using ED on CD can once you're I believe 68 can reduce the CD of Lightspeed by 5 seconds. I honestly don't pay much attention to CD reduction, it may only be when ED crits or something like that, but it's defintely another reason to use it frequently.